Rusike back in Mzansi...as Tendai Ndoro's registration case rages on

HARARE - Zimbabwe international Matthew Rusike has signed for South African side Cape Town City FC after ending his stay with Tunisian giants Club Africain.

Rusike completed his move to the Citizens on transfer deadline day on Wednesday evening.

“Cape Town City is delighted to announce the signing of highly-rated forward Matthew Rusike from Club Africain,” the club revealed on their twitter account.

“Rusike arrived at Cape Town International on deadline day to conclude the deal with City. He arrived from Stockholm amidst a likely return to the Swedish Premier League — and we are delighted that Matty has decided to join us amidst other offers.”

Previously, Rusike had stints with Jomo Cosmos in South Africa before moving to Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs.

At Chiefs, the Zimbabwean won two league titles, the Nedbank Cup and MTN8 under Stuart Baxter.

Rusike then had a short spell in Portugal with CD Nacional before moving to Swedish sides Halmstad and Helsingborg.

From Helsingborg he then moved to Club Africain where he has been since last season.

Rusike could make his debut for Benni McCarthy’s side against Mamelodi Sundowns when City host the Brazilians in a crunch top-of-the-table Absa Premiership clash at Athlone Stadium tonight.

While Rusike is settling well at his new club, the same cannot be said of his fellow compatriot Tendai Ndoro as he is still at the centre of an intriguing controversy regarding his registration.

Ajax Cape Town want a speedy resolution to the striker’s case to have uncertainty removed from around the club as they try to stave off relegation.

The Urban Warriors are now waiting to hear the appeal from the Super Diski league after he was granted permission to play following a ruling by the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC).

Ndoro played again for Ajax in Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over Orlando Pirates but under protest from the visiting side in a move the Urban Warriors’ owner Ari Efstathiou described as gamesmanship.

The Zimbabwe international was entitled to play in the game while the appeal is still to be heard after being cleared to play earlier in the day.
Efstathiou added that Pirates were making mischief before the kick off of the league game at the Cape Town Stadium.

Pirates official Floyd Mbele was in the tunnel around 40 minutes before kick off to lead the appeal process with referee Victor Hlungwani and match commissioner Morne Daniels.

“They wanted our captain (Musa Lebusa) to come off from his warm-up to countersign the document but I told them to wait‚ he was still on the pitch‚” Efstathiou told South African media.

“They told me he had to sign before 7pm or the protest would not be valid.

“But when I challenged them to show me where that rule was written then it all went quiet.

“They were just trying to destabilise the side before kick off. I told everyone in my club just to calm down.”

Ajax faced sanction for fielding Ndoro last month in contravention of Fifa rules.

The rules say that a player can be contracted by three different clubs in one season‚ but can only play for two.

But the ruling does seemingly have some room for interpretation and Ajax argued successfully in front of the DRC on Tuesday and were given permission to field Ndoro going forward.

The DRC decision was announced on Wednesday morning with the striker then immediately put back into the starting line-up by coach Muhsin Ertugral.

But some two hours before kick off‚ the South Africa PSL released a brief statement saying it was to appeal against the decision.

“You have to question the timing of that. Why did it come out at that time‚ just before the game?” asked Efstathiou.

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